


I Would Stay for You

by ClareGuilty



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Canon Era, F/M, Getting Together, Jesse nurses sombra back to health, Mcsombra, Mentions of Sex, Mentions of Violence, bc he's a sap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-26 20:46:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17148824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClareGuilty/pseuds/ClareGuilty
Summary: He shouldn’t have taken her back to his hideout. Shouldn’t have helped her out of that purple bodysuit. Shouldn’t have fallen into bed with her only to wake up alone.He should have skipped town that morning.But he was back in the same bar two days later and she was trailing those freaky long nails over his shoulder and he made the same mistake twice. At least the sex was great.She was gone when he woke in the morning, unsurprising. So, Jesse gathered up his pride along with his boxers and skipped town at the earliest opportunity.





	I Would Stay for You

**Author's Note:**

> I had so much fun writing this! McSombra is such an underrated ship!

Jesse McCree was no fool. At least that was what he liked to tell himself. He had done enough-seen enough-to know what trouble looked like, and he did his best to stay out of it. The woman across the bar was trouble personified, all dolled up with cybernetics and purple lipstick. Her eyes hadn’t left Jesse since she had sat down half an hour ago.

Despite the threat lurking three stools down, the cowboy had kept to himself. He had every intention of finishing his drinks before heading back to his hideout and getting the hell out of dodge. There was no point in staying in Castillo if he was being watched.

His plans changed when the purple-haired woman moved to sit right next to Jesse. Her too long nails sent shivers down his spine as she placed a hand on his arm.

“What brings you to Castillo, Jesse McCree?” her voice had a strange melody, curious but all-knowing at the same time. Jesse was instantly on edge at the sound of his name.

“I imagine you must already know that,” He said, voice cold and defensive.

“You’re right, but it’s always polite to ask,” She shrugged.

“What do you want, Sombra?” Jesse allowed himself a smug smile as the hacker’s eyes widened. She wasn’t the only one in the business of information. “I thought you were Talon’s lap dog.”

“Talon is a joke, and you know it. I’m much more interested in why an ex-Blackwatch operative is monitoring the arms trade in Dorado.” Sombra raised an eyebrow over the rim of her glass.

“Let me know when you figure it out.” The wink was an accident.

He shouldn’t have taken her back to his hideout. Shouldn’t have helped her out of that purple bodysuit. Shouldn’t have fallen into bed with her only to wake up alone.

He should have skipped town that morning.

But he was back in the same bar two days later and she was trailing those freaky long nails over his shoulder and he made the same mistake twice. At least the sex was great.

She was gone when he woke in the morning, unsurprising. So, Jesse gathered up his pride along with his boxers and skipped town at the earliest opportunity.

He had no intention of ever seeing Sombra again. They existed in two different worlds, equally dark as they were. A cowboy living on the edge of the law and a trickster working alongside an international terrorist cell. Jesse was not the kind of man to give his time over to a disloyal, arrogant, blackmailing hacker.

Jesse reckoned he must have more in common with Sombra than he originally thought when he found her again in Dorado. Los Muertos apparently took issue with her leaving the gang like she did, and Jesse found her in a field of bodies, blood spattered on her cheek as she clawed her way out of an ambush. He had had the exact same fight with Deadlock back in his Blackwatch days.

The Deadeye took care of the remaining assailants no problem. He picked his way through the mess of corpses, snagging anything that looked valuable before making his way to where Sombra had collapsed.

She tried to fight him as he lifted her into his arms. He chuckled at her feeble punches and ineffective scratches, “Can you settle down for a bit?”

Sombra grimaced but stilled, conceding to the _vaquero_ as he carried her to safety.

If Sombra had been of a better mind as Jesse laid her gently across his bed, she would have been predictably disgusted with his living conditions. Jesse was staying in an older building far removed from the town square. The bed was lumpy and moth-eaten, and the light flickered every few minutes. The cowboy was used to the squalor, but he knew Sombra had much more refined tastes.

The hacker seemed understandably disgruntled as Jesse tossed his ratty blanket over her shivering form and cracked open his only biotic field. He slumped against the wall and pulled his hat over his eyes, not committing to sleep, but allowing himself to doze.

Jesse rose several times in the night to check on Sombra, dampening a cloth to wash the grime and blood from her face. He wanted to do more, to dress her wounds and make sure she didn’t have any broken bones, but he didn’t want to push anything. Sombra would have no qualms about killing him if he made a move she didn’t like. He kept his distance and watched with desperation in his eyes.

It hadn’t taken Jesse long to figure out he had feelings for Sombra. He wasn’t the kind of man to take just anyone to bed, especially not twice. Danger or not—intel or not, something about Sombra struck Jesse’s heart. He had always been a sap that way, letting his heart make decisions that his brain should know better.

He wasn’t dumb enough to say anything about it. He knew that Sombra would never return his feelings, she was using him. He reckoned that he didn’t mind being used as nothing but a good fuck and a source of useless intel if it meant he got to hold the hacker in his arms for one night every few months. It was pathetic—he knew, but it was more than he had had in years.

Sombra turned in her sleep, groaning softly in discomfort. Jesse hated the way his heart twinged. He wasn’t often in the business of caring for people, and he knew that wanting to protect Sombra only created another weakness for his enemies to exploit. Her being one of them. He watched her brows furrow as she dreamt about things Jesse would never understand. There was no way things would end well for him.

Sombra jolted awake several hours later, bright hair all mussed up from her restless sleep. Her eyes searched frantically around the room, fingers reaching blindly for a weapon. Jesse had stowed her machine pistol well out of reach for that exact reason.

“Where am I?” she demanded. Her expression was fierce despite her rumpled appearance.

“Dorado. My hideout. I have a med kit if you want to dress your wounds.” Jesse got straight to the point. He was usually a man of many words, but he had to think quickly if he wanted to keep Sombra from leaving at the earliest opportunity. Jesse kicked the box across the wooden floor, keeping his distance from the bed. He hated having to tread so carefully with the hacker, but he couldn’t risk scaring her off. He didn’t know if he would ever see her again.

“At least make yourself useful and help me out,” Sombra rolled her eyes, tugging her top over her head. She winced and hissed in pain as many of her wounds reopened from the movement, the fabric of her shirt pulling at her scabs. Jesse hoped he didn’t look too desperate as he snatched up the med kit and took a seat on the bed.

Sombra was in bad shape. Covered in bruises and cuts, dried blood had caked to her dark skin. Jesse let her take the lead as she tore open several packets of disinfectant wipes and began cleaning the various scrapes that littered her upper body. The cowboy trailed after her with biotic ointment, carefully coating each gash with the honey-colored gel.

The process was meticulous and slow. Los Muertos had been close to killing their former member when Jesse had intervened. Both he and Sombra were surprised at the extent of her injuries. If McCree hadn’t shown up when he did, Sombra likely would have died. He shuddered at the thought and focused on bandaging any cuts that looked too deep for his liking.

“You can borrow one of my shirts if you like,” He offered, scooping up the mess they had made on the mattress. “I can take your stuff to get washed and it would give your scrapes some room to breathe.”

Jesse realized just how badly Sombra was hurt when she didn’t even speak, didn’t even fight. The exhausted woman just nodded and pulled the button-down Jesse had offered her over her shoulders. She dragged herself out of the rest of her dirty clothes for Jesse to take to the wash.

She was asleep when he got back, clean and freshly folded clothes tucked under his arm. Jesse noticed even more scrapes and bruises on Sombra’s legs. They hadn’t even made it that far after the first hour of cleaning and bandaging.

The outlaw sighed. He had dreamed about having Sombra in his bed, wearing nothing but one of his shirts. Now that he was staring at the reality, he realized how cruel the fates would always be. _The Curse of the Monkey’s Paw_ he thought scornfully, fully intending to blame Winston for all of his bad luck.

Several more hours passed in silence. Jesse finally allowed himself to sleep for a few minutes at a time, but he couldn’t rest for very long before feeling the need to check that Sombra was still breathing steadily on the bed. She was always fine, but he always checked.

Jesse must have been asleep when Sombra woke next. The bed was empty. He scrambled for a few seconds, looking for any trace of the hacker, any sign that she wasn’t gone for good.

The machine pistol still lay next to his peacekeeper.

Sombra was still around. Jesse hated how relieved he felt knowing that he would get to see her again. Why did he care so much for someone who would never be able to return his feelings?

“Do you have any food, _vaquero_?” a clear voice snapped Jesse out of his self-pity. Sombra had returned from the restroom.

“Sure, uh, mostly non-perishables,” Jesse found a few cans of fruit and a package of jerky. Sombra didn’t complain as she took the food, but Jesse could read the disapproval in her eyes as she ate. Jesse’s lifestyle would never be good enough for her. He would never be good enough for her.

Sombra ate quickly. She was still dressed in nothing but his button-down, open in the front. The two had never really encountered each other fully clothed, and there was no need for modesty. Two sexually charged flings and one rescue from a near-death experience did not count as activities that required a full wardrobe.

Jesse did a good job of not staring as he checked his supplies and tidied up as much as he could. He prided himself on being respectful, even if he was an outlaw. Averting his eyes, all of his focus went into cleaning peacekeeper so he could distract himself from the woman sitting cross-legged on his floor. He didn’t even notice when she had finished and was surprised when Sombra appeared at his side.

She plucked the pistol from his hand and settled herself firmly in his lap, bare thighs on either side of his waist as she clung to him. Lips brushed his jaw. Fingers trailed down his chest.

 _Not again._ Jesse thought as he tried to push Sombra away. He couldn’t let himself make this same mistake over and over. His heart couldn’t take it.

Sombra turned out to be very persuasive. Jesse let himself be dragged to bed. He just hoped she would be gone when he woke up. She would be gone for good, and he could move on. Curled against his side, expression softer than he had ever seen it, Sombra slept on, oblivious to the storm raging in Jesse’s heart. He tried to commit her to memory, the softness of her skin, the strange melody of her voice, the brightness of her eyes.

Dawn had never felt so cold. Jesse bit back tears and tore himself away from where the sheets were still warm. This was the life he had chosen. This was what he deserved.

 _It’s better this way._ He repeated to himself as he packed his things. The day was still young, and he could make it back to the states by nightfall if he hopped the next hyper train. Dorado could be nothing but a memory by next week.

A shuffling noise at the door snapped Jesse out of his misery. Peacekeeper was aimed and ready as the old wood creaked open.

“ _Buenos Dias, vaquero_ ,” a cheerful voice called “I have breakfast.” Sombra froze as she caught sight of the pistol trained between her eyes.

“Not a morning person. Got it.” The hacker nodded and took a careful step back.

Jesse holstered his weapon immediately as he realized what was happening. “Sorry,” he raised his hands and hung his head. “I didn’t think you were coming back.” The racing of his heart was making it impossible to think. He sat heavily on the bed, running his palms over the tops of his thighs as he tried to ground himself.

A warm, wrapped package landed in his lap. Food. Sombra had already started eating, devouring her own burrito with an almost comical ferocity.

Jesse didn’t even taste the food, too caught up in his own head.

Sombra had come back. She was here. This was her choice.

“You’re leaving.” Her voice called him back to reality.

“I-“ Jesse faltered, without the right words for the first time in his life. “I’ve been here too long already.”

“Were you even going to say goodbye?” The question was more sincere than any Sombra had posed before.

“I didn’t know you were coming back,” there was a note of bitterness in Jesse’s voice that he tried to catch between his teeth.

“That’s fair,” Sombra nodded. “I guess you’re not coming back?” Jesse tried to tell himself he was imagining the sadness in her eyes. He meant nothing to this woman; she had no reason to miss him.

“Don’t have much reason to,” Jesse shrugged. If he was going to leave, he was running out of time. The next hyper train left in an hour.

Silence reigned for a long moment. Sombra spoke first.

“Thank you,” her voice was quiet.

“For what?” Jesse looked up in surprise.

“For helping me. I don’t have a lot of people who would help me.” Her lip trembled. Jesse couldn’t stop himself. He pulled Sombra into his arms, holding her close. A shaky exhale into his chest made his heart fall.

Sombra pulled away. Jesse let her.

He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to fight back every emotion that was clawing its way out of his chest.

Lips brushed his. Soft and gentle, barely there.

Jesse took Sombra’s face in his hands, kissing back with more passion than ever before. She responded with matching enthusiasm, fingers tangling in his hair. He grabbed at Sombra’s waist, her hips, her thighs. As close as he had held her before, nothing felt like it would be enough. Weeks of longing had finally brought him to this moment, Sombra gasping softly into his mouth.

Jesse missed the hyper train, but he didn’t mind.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Please let me know what you think! 
> 
> Feel free to follow me on [Tumblr](https://clareguilty.tumblr.com/) or [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Clare_Guilty)!


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